Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai (L) of Pakistan listens as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a designation ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York on April 10, 2017.<br />Yousafzai was designated as UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education. Jewel SAMAD / AFP

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said “everything” must be done to confront the threat from North Korea and ensure that its missile and nuclear programs do not pose an international threat.

Guterres said countries “on the frontline” of the crisis — China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia — must spare no effort to prevent a military buildup from Pyongyang.

“We believe that it is absolutely essential… that everybody is involved in order to make sure that everything is done so that the threat represented by the development in relation to missiles and in relation to nuclear capability — not become a threat to the international community,” said Guterres.

“We fully support the efforts of all states in order to make sure that North Korea does not acquire the capacities that would become a threat not only to the region but in a wider area of the world,” he told reporters.

US Vice President Mike Pence earlier vowed that the United States would counter any North Korean attack with an “overwhelming and effective” response.

“North Korea is the most dangerous and urgent threat to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific,” Pence said.

“We will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response.”